Annual AEA Customer Survey to Launch March 4

Next Monday, March 4 you and your staff will receive an email asking to complete the 2012-13 AEA Customer Survey. The subject line of the email will read “DE Requested Action: Take the Statewide AEA Customer Survey.” The survey will be available March 4 through April 5, 2013.

The survey provides us with your insight on the progress of our goals and how to improve our services to your school(s) and students.

We will send reminders later this month and early April to insure that all district staff have a chance to participate. Since the survey responses are anonymous, we have no way of knowing who has contributed and who has not. You are only asked to fill out the survey once. After you complete the survey, you may disregard the reminder notices.

Please remind all your staff to participate. We look forward to your input!

New Heartland AEA Instructional Technology App

Like using technology resources in the classroom? Heartland's Instructional Technology Consultants have designed a new app in which users can easily view technology leadership opportunity initiatives, general resources for infusing technology into teaching and learning, online professional development courses in technology, information about the technology team and links to additional technology resources. Click here for the app which can be used on iPads, iPhones, iPods and Androids.

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Superintendents: March 5 HAA Meeting

Download a PDF or Word Doc of the March Heartland Administrators Association meeting agenda. The meeting will be held from 9:00-11:50 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5 at the Heartland AEA Johnston Regional Education Center (6500 Corporate Drive) in Room 13A and B. All handouts will be available on the Google Site at bit.ly/HAA2012.

Clarification on Evaluator Approval

There have been many questions surfacing regarding what is needed to renew an administrator or evaluator license. Please see the latest information from the BOEE in the letter dated December 18, 2012 where it states:

In light of the current conversations around changing the evaluation process, the BOEE and the DE have determined that practitioners must complete one (1) of the current evaluator renewal courses.

The DE approved courses include: Assessing Academic Rigor or iEvaluate. Please be aware that renewal of an administrator license, with an evaluator endorsement, requires a total of four semester hours of renewal credit.

To find iEvaluate courses, please visit the AEA PD Online catalog. There are currently four iEvaluate classes scheduled with the next course beginning March 18.

There is one Assessing Academic Rigor (AAR) course scheduled beginning in April with another course proposed for April and May to be held in our Ames office. Looking ahead, we hope to offer another AAR course in late summer. Please watch the Administrator Connection for more information.

Assessing Academic Rigor
April 9, 18, 30 and May 16, 2013
8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Johnston REC
Activity Number: AD013992111306

Please contact Sue Schirmer at sschirmer@aea11.k12.ia.us if you have any questions.

Iowa Google Apps for Education Mini Summit Coming July 25

Iowa's AEAs have supported Iowa districts deploying Google Apps for Education for the last four years. Join us July 25, 2013 at Van Meter Community Schools for a hands-on mini summit that will focus on integrating Google Apps for Education in K-12 learning environments. Hear from Google App trainers, teachers and experienced users about deployment and implementation of Google Apps for Education for your schools and classrooms.

Registration is limited to the first 200 participants. For more information and to register, go to http://tinyurl.com/IowaMiniSummit.

Contact Denise Krefting at dkrefting@aea11.k12.ia.us if you have any questions.

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Reflection of AIW Mid-Year Regional Conference

The annual AIW Mid-Year Regional Conference for Heartland schools was held on February 8, 2013 in the Gilbert School District.  AIW coaches Becca Lindahl, Teresa Bellinghausen, Mary Schmidt, Sue Ford, Linda Moehring and Julie Hukee planned the Mid-Year. They collaborated with Gilbert curriculum director, Hope Bossard, and others.

This year’s Heartland AIW Mid-Year had the format of a large-organization conference:  breakouts all day long from which participants could pre-select, with an ongoing theme of making connections between the work of AIW and the work of various initiatives going on in schools across the state.  Some initiatives included STEM, CGI, PLCs, RtI, the Iowa Core (both Math and English Language Arts & Literacy), concept-based learning, online resources, transformational technology, Socratic seminar, teaching for in-depth learning using technology, unit planning, substantive conversation and 6+1 Traits of Writing. There were also breakouts designed for administrators as well as scoring sessions. A highlight of the conference was a keynote address presented by Sarah Brown Wessling, current ELA teacher at Johnston High School and 2010 National Teacher of the Year, entitled, “The Intellectual Work of Authenticity.”

Over 300 AIW educators in the Heartland area attended the Mid-Year, a growth of about 100% over the past two years. The AIW coaches of Heartland welcome your questions or comments on anything dealing with the work of AIW. Please direct your feedback to an AIW team member listed below.

Becca Lindahl, blindahl@aea11.k12.ia.us
Teresa Bellinghausen, tbellinghausen@aea11.k12.ia.us
Mary Schmidt, mschmidt@aea11.k12.ia.us
Sue Ford, sford@aea11.k12.ia.us
Linda Moehring, lmoehring@aea11.k12.ia.us
Julie Hukee, jhukee@aea11.k12.ia.us

March ESL Reminders

I-ELDA
The I-ELDA testing window is drawing to an end, April 30.  If your district has not ordered please do so by March 8. This will give Northwest AEA time to fill your order and for your staff to prepare and administer the test. Tests must be returned for scoring no later than May 1, 2013. The good news: we only have 9 Heartland districts that need to order.

Our Kids Summer Institute
The Our Kids Summer Institute is June 18 and 19 from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Please plan to send a team of administrators along with general education and ESL teachers from your district. More information will be coming.

Home Language Survey
Don’t forget to include home language surveys in your 2013-2014 school registration materials. Form A, the form that must be used, can be found at www.transact.com. The Home Language Survey is the first step in identifying students with a language other than English. 

For more information please contact
Stephaney Jones-Vo
(515) 270-0405 ext. 14680

Pat Latham
(515) 993-4596 ext. 11228

University of Iowa Paul Engle Essay Contest for Sophomores

The University of Iowa has announced details about the annual Paul Engle “Glory of the Senses” high school student essay contest. This contest serves dual purposes in promoting a weeklong curriculum based on Engle’s writings and offering the opportunity for sophomore students. Click here for a cover letter from the university which gives more information.

Iowa high school sophomores are invited to submit essays based on a prompt that draws from Engle’s writings. The University will recognize a student from each of Iowa’s nine Area Education Agency areas. The overall winner of the essay contest will receive one year of free tuition to the University of Iowa. The top student from each of the remaining eight AEAs will receive a $500 cash scholarship.

Click here to find a packet that includes a weeklong curriculum based on Engle’s writings and specifics of the essay contest. Please note that the essay contest deadline is April 8, 2013.

The dissemination of information from external organizations by Heartland AEA does not imply sponsorship or endorsement of the information. It is being passed on to our stakeholders for its educational value.